Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas ... happy new year to all!

I'm expecting this will be our last Wednesday Weekly bulletin of the year. In fact, though I'll be in and out of HQ myself, we're suspending our usual office hours between Dec. 20 and Jan. 1. So, office volunteers, after this week, you're off duty!

If you need to come in, please call first. We can't shut down altogether, because there's too much to do!

We have a new Congressman to take care of in Wheeling Township!

The mapmakers have broken the township into three Congressional Districts; Bob Dold continues to be "our guy" in the 10th - in fact, we endorsed him for re-election in September, and I'm not anticipating any primary challenge for him. The 10th now runs through the east side of the township, picking up much of the north central area as well.The 9th District has no Republican incumbent; I'm not sure yet whether there will be a primary to challenge Cong. Jan Schakowsky in the 9th. But we also have a piece of the8th District, up in the northwest corner, extending into the north central area. And things just got more interesting in the 8th.

Congressman Joe Walsh announced last week he would run for re-election in the 8th, abandoning plans to run in the new 14th, drawn by the Democrats to take in his house as well as a fellow Republican incumbent's territory. So fighting Joe Walsh will be running in Wheeling Township, and he needs our help to get signatures in time for the Dec. 23 filing date.  Yes, I said Dec. 23; that's the date the federal court set when they took the case against the new map.

If you would like to circulate a petition for Joe, please call HQ to see whether we're open or reply to this e-mail so we can arrange to meet you here. If you are already circulating a Walsh petition, please finish your sheet/s and bring them to HQ this Saturday (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) or next Monday (7 p.m.). We'll have a notary here or you can take them to a bank to have them notarized. But we must have them in by Monday night; Joe's campaign needs time to assemble them, so Monday night is our effective deadline for bringing in the Wheeling Township signatures.

We also have petitions here for some of the Presidential candidates; their signatures are due the 1st of the year, as are petitions for delegate and alternate delegate to the National Convention in Tampa next summer. At this point, the Presidential Preference petitions here are for Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. We have delegate slate petitions here for Ron Paul and may soon be getting in come for Rick Santorum. The campaigns need a staggering number of signatures to file, so come and get a petition to circulate if you have a favorite among these.

For your 2012 calendar
Jan. 14
Our first meeting of the new year will be Saturday, Jan. 14, 8:30 a.m. here at HQ. We'll be endorsing in the 8th Congressional District, in the 12th and 13th Judicial Subcircuits, and possibly other races at this meeting.  Precinct captains, please mark your calendar now and plan to attend this meeting! I do not anticipate a vote to endorse in the Presidential Primary.

Have a blessed holiday season ... and don't forget us!

Faithfully,

Ruth O’Connell
Republican Committeeman
Republicans of Wheeling Township
847.632.1774

Regular Office Hours - note that we will close starting Dec. 20 through the 1st of the year.
Tues. 10:30 a.m. – Noon, Wed. 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Thurs. 4 – 6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Otherwise By Appointment